


Jellyfish

by deerest_love



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 14:50:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19275532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deerest_love/pseuds/deerest_love





	Jellyfish

A boy sat peacefully in the oppressive din of hail, letting it sting his head and shoulders. By now, his skin felt raw and prickly from this battering. He looked down at the ocean beneath him, which lapped at his canoe as though trying to draw it in. Enriching the water with soothing purple and cerulean hues was a dense pack of jellyfish; the boy watched tentacles billow in their wakes like a mass of tattered ribbons. He donned a pair of gloves and gently scooped one of the creatures out, hunching over to shield it from the weather. It pulsed like a heart in his hand as he admired its dendritic canals. He rubbed his cheek against its bell, caressed it with his lips. It was slick and yielding, like the inside of a mouth. He gave it a tender kiss. “It’s nice to be touched, isn’t it?” 

He returned the creature to the ocean, and took a deep breath as he removed his gloves. Then he leaned over and dropped into the water. His swimming trunks offered little protection; tentacles dragged across his skin, searing like a blanket of wasps. He spasmed, flailed his limbs like a puppet in a storm. His thoughts vanished like stars in daylight.

Eventually, instinct took over and the boy hauled himself back into the canoe. He lay there panting, whimpering. The hail smarted terribly now, as though it were falling on open wounds, and the boy’s body ached from the venom and the cold. But after some minutes the pain did begin to lessen, and he gave a shuddering sigh. He curled up, and for a long time he just felt the canoe rock gently back and forth.


End file.
